Here’s a look back at a getaway that we did several months ago, when three of us from the boondocks deliberately made that long travel down to Rizal in order to… climb a mountain. Yep. You can say we wanted to get a taste of mountains other than where we actually live in, haha! This is in Mt. Daraitan in Tanay, Rizal.
I’m starting this week right. And what could be more right than talk about food? Good food, at that. Great food, even. I’m talking about the group date my co-workers and I had at Amare La Cucina, one of the top restaurants in Baguio City.
Let me just take this moment to lament the summer season, at least in my part of the world. It rains often in the afternoons and nights, and gets windy in the morning. But it’s not entirely a bad thing because, really, I’d prefer this over scorching heat any darn time. That’s not to say that I completely shun heat and sunshine, though, which is why, in this post, I am harking back to a visit that I and my co-workers made to Dicasalarin Cove in Baler, Aurora, on one fine, sunny, scorching hot day.
It used to be known by locals (and by that, I mean, those in Benguet) as “Philex Ridge” until, on October 31, 2015, it was officially launched with its new name, Mt. Ulap. Before that official launch, and before massive numbers of local and foreign tourists descended on the place with their day-hikes and trail runs, I was able to tag along a group of friends and check it out.
Continue reading “Walkin’ on Air… at Mt. Ulap, Itogon, Benguet”
The month of March marks the celebration of the Strawberry Festival of La Trinidad, Benguet, where I grew up and currently reside. As my way of celebrating the 2016 Panaspulan: La Trinidad Strawberry Festival, let me take you back to one of my revisits to one of La Trinidad’s “staples”, Mt. Kalugong,just last month.
I bumped into an acquaintance a few days ago, and she saw some of my recent posts on Facebook about my zipriding adventures at Mapawa Nature Park and Dahilayan Adventure Park. She asked me, “…weren’t you scared?” I answered honestly: “Terrified. But my excitement won out.” I mean, imagine zipriding 1.3 kilometers! Continue reading “Zipriding at the Delta Discovery Park in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte”
This is the second part of my re-telling of my love affair with ziplines. Granted, it has partially fizzled out by now, although I wouldn’t say no if I get another opportunity. In my previous post, I talked about the first time that I tried zipping down a line. A couple of days later, I got to do it again and, this time, at ZipZone, which was the longest dual zipline in Asia (at that time, at least).
Continue reading “Ziplining at ZipZone in Bukidnon’s Dahilayan Adventure Park”
Growing up, I never fancied myself to be the active kind. I was not even into sports, except those times when it’s part of PhysEd and I have to do it or else I’ll flunk my class. It was only later in life, when I learned to appreciate nature and the great outdoors, that I took that proverbial leap and started to take on new things in ‘uncharted territories’, so to speak. One of them was zipping down a line or, as they call it, ziplining. And my first time was on the first ever zipline course in Mindanao.
Continue reading “My First Zipline Experience… at Mapawa Nature Park, Cagayan de Oro”
(Note: This was originally posted on November 17, 2014, Edits and updates will be continually made, as they come, for everyone’s reference.)
I thought it only fitting that I write something about the Adivay, which is the celebration of the anniversary of the province of Benguet. Every November, she turns a year older, and Adivay is “hotter” than ever. Continue reading “The Adivay of the 13 Municipalities of Benguet”
Its the year of the Monkey, so are y’all ready to go ape?! Happy New Year, all~ How’d you ring in 2016? Mine was… uneventful, which means restful… which is a good thing, because if there’s one thing I would like to happen in the coming year, it is for me to have plenty of rest in between adventures. *crosses fingers* The last post I did was Part 2 of this Travel Challenge, and it also happened to be the 200th post I’ve made in this blog. Wow. 200. I hope I’ll be able to do 200 more. 🙂 Travel gods and fairies, be nice to me~
Continue reading “Tacadang Travel Challenge Pt. 3…in Tacadang, Kibungan, Benguet”
That one time in the year where we are allowed to be contemplative is here again: the coming of the New Year. For those who are still into making New Year resolutions, I say, “good for you”. For those who, like me, have stopped, and just relied on hoping for the best (haha!), I say, “yaaay for us!” But no, really, if you’re going to make plans for change, this is the best time for it. For me, personally, though, I’m just glad to be able to look forward to 2016. And continuing this series of posts on the Tacadang Travel Challenge.
Continue reading “Tacadang Travel Challenge Pt. 2…in Tacadang, Kibungan, Benguet”
Christmas Day has passed, everyone! How did you spend it? I hope you had a good and meaningful Christmas, with the people who matter. I had a restful one, thank you for asking, and with the family, too, so all’s well! And it looks like this blog, too, had a bit of a rest period. And before the year is over, imma shake it up a bit! This time, with a series of posts about my last major climb/trek for 2015, in Tacadang, Kibungan.
Continue reading “Tacadang Travel Challenge Pt. 1…in Tacadang, Kibungan, Benguet”
I thank the powers-that-be that I am not claustrophobic; otherwise, I’d have missed out on a lot. Checking out caves being one of them. It’s certainly not the most glamorous of activities. Not the cleanest, either, so it’s not for the faint of heart. Or clean-freaks. In fact, the dirtier you get, the more fun it is. …OK, that… sounded wrong. Let’s just get to exploring Bengaongao Cave, shall we? Continue reading “The Ambongdolan Caves of Tublay, Benguet: Bengaongao Cave”
November has come and gone, and it’s the last month of the year. Surprisingly, except for a couple of weekend getaways, my November was slightly “quiet”. Still, I would like to dedicate this, and the next couple of posts, to several spots of Benguet, in belated celebration of her founding anniversary, the Adivay, which was celebrated for the entire month of November. The focus of this post: the caves of Ambongdolan, in the municipality of Tublay, my dad’s hometown, on his maternal side. Continue reading “The Ambongdolan Caves of Tublay, Benguet: Paterno Cave”
It’s the first day of December!! I hear carols! I hear cheers! Oh, wait… I hear groaning of people having no clue what presents to get for family and friends, haha! I’m feeling slightly meh about this time of the year coming around this time, though, and I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. But the mere fact that another year’s ending, and another one’s about to start is something worth celebrating, I suppose? So. Yeah. I’m there. Before I do roll around in all that yule-goodness, however, I’m going to talk about another falls – the last of my waterfalls series (this time, I hope. I’m crossing my fingers that I’d get to see more of ’em in the future). It’s Antong Falls of Brgy. Inmalog in the town of Sison, Pangasinan.
Continue reading “Antong Falls of Sison, Pangasinan”
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